FAIRBANKS, Alaska – On Monday, Alaska Nanooks associate head swim coach Becca Weiland announced the addition of MaKayla Suominen, who signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Nanooks swimming program in the fall of 2019. Suominen is the second signee to join the Alaska Nanooks swim team throughout the early signing period.

Hailing from Cloquet, Minnesota, Suominen will come to the Nanooks after earning the 2016 Minnesota High School State Class "A" individual champion title in the 50-yard freestyle with the C-E-E Lumberjacks, only three years after starting to swim at the age of 12.

Throughout her time with the Lumberjacks, Suominen placed within the top-four individually at the Minnesota High School Class "A" State Championships in both the 50-yard and the 100-yard freestyle events for four-straight years.

At the Minnesota High School Section 7A Championships, Suominen was the 50-yard freestyle champion for five-straight years (eighth grade through 12th) and was the 100-yard freestyle champion from her freshman year through senior year. Furthermore, Suominen currently holds the Minnesota Section 7A record in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events.

Additionally, Suominen also holds the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle records at the Lake Superior Conference level, while also holding the C-E-C Lumberjacks team record in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle, the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Outside of the pool, Suominen is a tri-sport athlete for the C-E-C Lumberjacks, also competing as a member of the program's weightlifting and track and field teams.

In the classroom, Suominen is currently enrolled in Minnesota's High School Postsecondary Enrollment Opportunities (PSEO) courses at Lake Superior College. Suominen has earned Dean's List honors for the last two semesters at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and will arrive on campus next fall already having earned 30 college credits.

If Suominen was a current Alaska Nanook, her performance at the 2018 Minnesota State High School Class "A" Championships, Suominen would have earned second in the 50-yard freestyle event and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle event at the 2018 Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships last February. Furthermore, Suominen's times would've been fast enough for an invitation to the 2018 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.

"We are extremely happy to announce the signing of Makayla Suominen with the Nanooks for fall of 2019," Weiland said on Monday. "We know that she will have an immediate impact on our sprint freestyle events and relays. Makayla has a fantastic attitude and the mindset of a world-class swimmer. She is a very talented athlete and an excellent student, who I know will achieve great things as a Nanook student-athlete."

Best Times
50-yard Freestyle: 00:23.37
100-yard Freestyle: 00:51.38

The Alaska Nanooks swim team will return to action on Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12, as they are set to compete in the LMU Lion's Cup, hosted by PCSC foe Loyola Marymount at the LMU Aquatic Center in Los Angeles.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks swim team, follow @NanooksSwim on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Swimming team page on Facebook.